Kenai an All-America City finalist

The National Civic League announced Wednesday that the city of Kenai is a finalist for the All-America City Competition.

Kenai is one of 26 cities to receive finalist status. Those cities will compete in Kansas City, Missouri, this June to see which ten receive the "All-America" title.

To get to this round of competition, the city submitted a written application that touched on a number of problems the city faced and the solutions Kenai developed.

The application focused on the health of the Kenai River, the city's work to coexist with bears and the Caring for the Kenai youth competition.

Christine Cunningham, a city employee and member of the committee that put together the city's application, said the committee will now work on a ten-minute presentation for the competition. They'll also have a ten-minute question and answer session as part of the judging process

Exactly which members will attend and present is still being worked out, Cunningham said. But before taking off, the committee will most likely present at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and other local venues.

Kenai is the only finalist city from Alaska this year, although Anchorage, Seward, Valdez, Fairbanks, Ketchikan, Kotzebue and St. George Island have all received the designation in the past.